Zimbabwe - Sosaties

Sosaties are grilled kebabs usually made up of cubed meat, onion and apricot marinated in a spicy sauce. I used a this recipe but adapted it a bit to fit in with what spices I had in the cupboard (as it uses a lot of different ones!) ---> http://www.food.com/recipe/south-african-sosaties-malay-kebabs-140661

Ingredients:

1 onion
1 tbls coriander seeds, crushed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbls curry powder

1 tsp mixed spice
3 tbls brown sugar
1 tbls cornflour
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tbls apricot jam

2 garlic cloves

1/2 cup milk

Shallots

Bacon

Beef

Dried apricots

 

 

Peel and chop the onion then saute it in some oil until it's soft.

 

Add all the dry ingredients for the marinade and stir well while you continue to cook the onion for a few minutes.

 Add the vinegar and milk (I used yoghurt as we were out of milk) and stir to form a thick sauce.

 Cube the beef and mix into the marinade. Cover and leave for as long as you can to infuse.

Make up the kebabs by alternating beef, shallots, bacon and apricots on a skewer. You can grill the kebabs but I chose to bake them in the oven instead. About 30 minutes on 200C.

 Serve with rice or salad.

The marinade smelled really sweet and vinegary so I was expecting the beef to taste the same. It was surprisingly delicious! I don't usually like apricots but they kind of caramellised on the kebabs and were lovely. The beef was fantastic, spicy, sweet and tender. This would be a great dish for having at a barbecue. The kids didn't try it but JD really enjoyed it ^_^

P.S. The recipe calls for the marinade to be made and applied to the meat a few days before you want to eat it but I just made it earlier the same day.  It was delicious and the beef was tender but I imagine the taste improves the longer you leave it. It's up to you :)